Keyed In

[DangoYumi]

@Quiet One @Mythy the Dragon-Wolf @Crowley @Viral

Lavender (Lavenza) Scarlet

Lavenza kept herself ready, but ultimately flinched when the door broke. She bit her lip out of nervousness, and kept the sword ready in case anything would happen. She could see that they were clearly outnumbered, but she wasn't ready to give up yet. Her thoughts changed however, when the man waltzed in with confidence. The man, Simon, did not seem to harbor any kindness in his eyes, and he seemed to have set his mind on defeating her and her group. The cane tapped on her sword handle and before she could react, she felt as if the powers from the sword were sucked out of it. The blade slowly became corrupted with black, disappearing without a trace followed by a smirk from the antagonist. At that single moment she felt fear, one that felt like a snake that was slithering up her spine. She swallowed, and took a few steps back with her brows furrowed.

Simon continued to blabber, but at this point Lavenza was no longer paying attention. She glanced around with small movements, trying not to alert Simon. She listened to Mauro and Silas' words, commending them for their bravery. That man was strong, she knew from how he easily disabled her sword. Lavenza was ready to try once more, and squeezed the handle gently. However this time, the handle fizzled slightly and no blade came out. It buzzed in defeat before Lavenza cursed under her breath, keeping her eyes on Simon. She was about to make a run for it, until she saw Marcus point a thermos towards the villainous Simon. She kept her ground, not wanting to leave Marcus alone in this situation.

 

[MUSΞ]

Lorenzo Montenegro
Age:18
Occupation: Golf caddy
Weapon: Shrouds of Shadow | Nature Poppers

Lorenzo shielding his face with his arm from the sudden splintering of the door in shock and confusion. The weapon draped over his arm slithered onto the ground next to him and into a neat pile as if wanting to hide from the looming dangers. He lowered his arm, eyes wide as a group of men walked into the armory with a man dressed impeccably commanding attention. All Lorenzo could focus on was the cane the man held, finding himself breathing shallowly at the intimidation.

Attentive ears listened to the man who introduced himself as Simon, a man who showed himself holding nothing but a grudge and jealousy for them being Locks. Simon explained his views, shared his stories of unfairness, and seemed to mock Abel and the rest of the group of following a set guideline for being a Lock. Lorenzo was still confused on what was going on, but he couldn't help but feel pulled into Simon's words. It made him question Abel yet again, only creating more distrust Lorenzo had for Death.

His attention was broken by the two other guys in their group voicing their opinion and the single girl holding her sword defensively. Lorenzo held back, feeling slightly pathetic and emasculated for not jumping in to be one of the heroes. He didn't know what to do but sit silently and wait for something big to happen. This type of scenario wasn't something he was built for, being brave and courageous in taking a stand wasn't really in him. Lorenzo was more of the type to be ignorant of issues around him and allow others to fight battles, even ones he believed in.

Slowly getting up from the floor, Lorenzo picked up his weapon and placed it around his shoulders, the fabric falling over his chest. Taking up position in the very back, Lorenzo let out a weak breath through flared nostrils, finding himself being guided by his back against the wall away from the chaos.

 

[Quiet One]

Simon looked from one Lock to another, noting how many stood defiantly in front of him. Most appeared ready for a fight, while those that didn't looked to be ready to run. He sighed and tapped his cane against the ground gently, the resounding tap, tap, tap echoing in the quiet room.

"And this is a consensus among all of you, is it?" he asked the room. "No matter the reason, what I've done makes me the bad guy. I can't say I'm surprised. Just...disappointed. I used to think Locks would appreciate revolution." He turned his head back to his other men. "Alright. Let's finish up here."

A man with a buzz cut and a Congo T over a black shirt twisted his body, unleashing a glowing red ribbon of energy with a metal end. He shot the whip forward and it wrapped around a supporting column. With one violent tug it was sliced through and crumbled to the ground. Simon slammed the tip of his cane into the ground and produced a billow of black mist, smothering everything in sight.

"You're not trained enough to fight them yet!" Abel shouted, beckoning them into a retreat. "Silas, the watch! Click it now!"

Simon emerged from the other side of the mist and made a backhanded swipe that cut Marcus' face and made him drop the can. He poked his cane - which had become a sword - against the boy's chest and a gold ring came out and took away his gravity. Simon then lifted Marcus up, balancing him on the tip of his blade before bringing him down onto the hood of the car, his sword piercing through him and into the vehicle. With a practiced perch, he pressed his foot against the grill to lodge himself free. Lavender stumbled through the mist with circular burns across her torso.

"You might have won if you knew what you were doing," he said. Then he stopped when he noticed the watch in Silas' hand. "Now that's not fair."

 

[Crowley]

Silas Mureau
​

Though the events that followed his declaration of solidarity against Simon and his followers occurred in normal time, Silas saw them almost in slow-motion as he became paralyzed with fear. A cacophony of chaos erupted around the room as Silas finally shook himself from the daze and dove behind the old truck he'd previously leaned against, withdrawing the pocket-watch from it's confines and trying to collect his thoughts. ​

​

"Shit...not my brightest moment. If this watch does anything useful, I'll choose my words better next time." He thought as he untangled the watch's chain from around his fingers and allowed it to rest comfortably in his palm. Feeling the truck shake with an impact tremor, Silas rolled around the opposite side to peek out and noticed one of his compatriots impaled against the hood. His eyes widened as he waited for some of the mist to clear itself, his perception minimal at best. Waiting until Simon was in clear view of himself, Silas spoke just loud enough for him to hear. "Most powerful artifact in this room...let's test that theory."​

​

'Click'​

​

Silas cast his gaze down to stare at the face of the pocket-watch as it's hands begun to spin backwards rapidly, this effect indicated audibly by the winding sound that accompanied most pocket-watches. He scarcely had time to prepare his thoughts for what came next as in the blink of his eyes Simon and his followers were gone. Abel was bracing the door as it was already splintering and his comrades were standing around the room, having collected their artifacts.​

​

"Oh...my...god. It does...this?! Never mind...everyone...get in the damn car, now! If we don't, we all die. I'll explain later, if we don't get killed in the process!" First speaking aloud just above a whisper, Silas gave his own commands as he ran over to the truck and yanked open the driver's side door so roughly he feared he might rip it from it's hinges as he beckoned them inwards. Silas didn't truly care for them in such a deep, compassionate manner but he knew last time was his fault...but he could fix it...this time.​

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[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

< @Quiet One @DangoYumi @Crowley @Viral @Pray4me >

Marcus Hart (& Inu)

"Agh... ugh.." Marcus coughed up blood onto his shirt as he found himself suddenly on the hood of the car, some sort of blade sticking out of him. He couldn't hear anything, not much at all, even the frantic yipping of Inu escaped him. He couldn't much think, but oddly two things came to mind. Simon's words, and the can that had been knocked out of his hand. If he had used that... he could have won...

Then everything went black...

"18. pretty good." he said, nodding when he caught it.

And with that done, once everyone had made their speech, Marcus gulped and took the thermos, pointing it towards the newcomer - Simon - and closed his eyes. He thought that doing this might actually make him a few friends, as Simon surely seemed to fit a villain archetype. So with that, he opened his eyes and made sure he was pointed right at Simon, as if threatening someone with a weapon to make them hesitate.

Then Silas suddenly began to talk about getting to the truck and escaping. Marcus hesitated for a moment as he got some sort of feeling. Escape would be the best thing to do, but he figured that he would better be served by doing something more first. He closed his eyes and then pulled off the Thermos lid, wanting to let it do its thing before he turned and ran to the truck and tried to jump in right next to Inu.

 

[DangoYumi]

@Quiet One @DangoYumi @Crowley @Viral @Pray4me

Lavender (Lavenza) Scarlet - Light sword

Lavenza kept herself near Marcus while her eyes wandered, but her attention was brought back to the antagonist tapping against the floor. The echoing of the taps ringing in her head, her mind going haywire at the amount of stress that was flooding it. Simon's words were unclear, as she could no longer focus on what he was blabbering about. Everything seemed to be covered in white noise, until she heard the ceiling above her collapse.

It was at that moment that her vision was clouded by the mist. Looking around frantically, she blinked furiously and choked, squinting as hard as she could while she tried to find Marcus in the fog. A scream escaped her lips when she felt a scorching burn on her arm, causing her to stumble slightly. The pain continued spreading through her body, as the burns increased one by one along with her piercing screams. Her vision began to blur, tears forming in her eyes from the sudden pain through her body. "Mar...cus...." she whispered, before passing out from the immense pain that paralyzed her.

--------

Lavenza squeezed the handle again, and it fizzed in defeat, causing her to curse under her breath. She was about to make a run for it, until she saw Marcus pointing the thermos towards the man. Standing her ground, she had her blade ready in her hand. She wasn't going to leave Marcus alone, that much she knew. However, hearing Silas shout at them caused her to flinch, her instincts telling her to listen to him and run. Looking over at Marcus, she watched him open the lid to the thermos and began to run to the truck. She followed right behind, running as fast as her legs could bring her, and quickly climbing into the truck.

 

[Viral]

Mauro Jakobs

The carnage unfolded so fast. The kid, Marcus, dead. How could he? How could this man just take someone's life like that? Mauro froze, shocked and stunned at the sudden violence. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. This wasn't how anything was suppose to go. He rose his gauntleted hand up to his eyes. Useless. He didn't know how to use it. They would lose. It looks like, in the end, the Locks really didn't deserve it. 'Natural selection,' a deep piece of him whispered.

Mauro looked around. He felt strangely calm, almost graceful. He lowered himself gently to his knees. How ironic, to die with Death so close, yet not by his hands. Or maybe not. Mauro was no poet. But what he did know is that he would die. And, strangely, he didn't mind too much. He wouldn't miss much. Maybe Ian. And this adventure. He thought it would be something new, exciting. As he closed his eyes, his last thought was 'but I'm really just another pawn, aren't I?'

And then...

Mauro turned, his hands thrown up defensively, one arm gauntleted, when the door split open. And everything continued, Mauro none the wiser to what could have been and once was, until Silas yelled. Almost instinctively, Mauro obeyed, turning and jumping into a sprint towards the car. Then he paused, turned around. "C'mon!" He yelled. Mauro was willing to wait until everyone else made it safely before he went himself.

 

[MUSΞ]

Lorenzo Montenegro
Age:18
Occupation: Golf caddy
Weapon: Shrouds of Shadow | Nature Poppers


"I should have stayed a caddy!"

As soon as the other guy became an ornament to Simon's car, his body hanging like a prized trophy with that blade sticking right through him, Lorenzo instantly made a run for it. He had no clue where he was going through the corridors of the armory, but he wanted to run as far as he could from the situation. His legs began to burn as he sprinted, his body not used to such an instant, burst of speed fueled purely by fear and regret.

He abandoned his choice of weapon, throwing the poppers on the floor as the chaos echoed throughout the armory. He knew it. He knew this was the worst choice to pick. At least if he chose his other option, he would have simply lived boring days on a loop, serving the same friendly old couple on a pristine golf course that was like a second home to him. The more Lorenzo thought about that other choice as he ran to the unknown, the more he realized he would have settled for that life. The monotonous wasn't so bad compared to this, the risk of actually dying for something that he didn't even care about. That looped life would have still been cozy and safe.

The frantic of screams of retreat from Abel licked at his ears, the words nearly being mumbled by heavy pants and racing footsteps. Lorenzo only shook his head hard, gathering staggered breaths deep within in throat.

"Fuck you Abel!" was all Lorenzo could muster, his declaration skimming underneath the sounds of disorder in the armory.

Terrorized eyes blurred his vision, the idea of him dying next clouded his mind. Panicked tears welled behind pressed eyelids--


--Lorenzo remained on the floor, his back firmly planted on the wall as he slowly began to scoot his body from sudden arrival of Simon and his men. His weapon remained draped over his arm, the poppers poking at his legs inside his pants. Eyes bounced from Simon to each of his group until they settled on Abel and car. He heard one of the other guys shout for them, watching each run towards the car.

Taking a giant gulp of breath, Lorenzo ran his way to the car, jumping into the seat and cutting off one of the other guys in the group.

"Get your ass in!" Lorenzo yelled at the boy who held open the door. "What are you doing just standing with that face of yours? Get in!!"

 

[Quiet One]

"What the - ?" Simon raised an eyebrow at the kids suddenly breaking for the 30's Ford. He side-stepped as the creature can was opened and a Bengal Tiger jumped out of the small opening. The big cat leapt up and mauled one of the Lockpicks. The end of Simon's cane turned into a blade and he walked up to the feline. It turned on him, growling and swatting its claws at him. He backed away and stabbed its shoulder.

"Get the car!" he ordered his henchmen as he raised his sword to decapitate it.

Once everyone got into the car they'd see it was bigger on the inside, with an extra row of seats so everyone could sit, but somehow didn't add to the length of the car. Abel sat in the middle row, leaning over to overlook the controls. "Use your key. Put it in the ignition," he advised Marcus. The dashboard was covered in all sorts of buttons and levers. Abel pointed to the button with a fire on it sat in front of a picture with a light. "Hit that button and you'll turn the headlights into firebolt shooters. That lever there will open the back end of the garage and we can get out of here. And you might want to hurry."

Simon removed the handle from his blade cane, revealing that it was two weapons - his sword, and one of those shooters.

 

[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

Marcus didn't look back to see how whatever he had done fared, as he found himself in the driver's seat and dumbfounded. He'd taken the test a year ago, sure, but he never actually drove. And this looked much too different than what he thought a car would look like. "What?" he asked out of instinct, and then put his key into the ignition. He was starting to lose his composure and hit the button that made the headlights shoot instead of pulling the lever.

"Uhh, wait. This one." he said to himself, pulling the lever and then looking around for the door. Once he found it he did what he could to start driving towards the way out. And during all this turmoil, Inu had pranced onto Abel's lap and laid down.

 

[DangoYumi]

@Quiet One @Crowley @Viral @Pray4me @Mythy the Dragon-Wolf

Lavender (Lavenza) Scarlet - Light sword

Lavenza's curious eyes wandered once she was inside the vehicle, amazed at how much bigger the interior looked compared to the exterior. She had no time to gawk however, when she heard a loud voice from the back of the room. A beast on all fours could be seen mauling down one of the Lockpicks, and Simon was pointing his cane towards their car. On her other ear she could hear Abel explaining how the car worked, and she couldn't help but panic at the current situation that was going on.

When the headlights shot, Lavenza instinctively ducked, thinking that it was Simon's henchmen that shot at them, but she quickly realized that it was from Marcus pressing a button in the vehicle. She straightened herself, hoping that none of them saw her reaction. The henchmen were getting closer by the second but soon the vehicle began to race out of the area, driving out into the open and leaving the Lockpicks behind. She was still afraid that they would catch up, and kept her head turned to the back.

 

[Viral]

Mauro Jakobs

Mauro cursed, technically loudly, but in all this mess it went rather unnoticed. He ran to the car and threw the door open, jumping in - and falling over. It was, to put it one way, not what he was expecting. Bigger on the inside. Like Doctor Who. Cool.

Before he had time to settle in, he heard a strange sound, like a gunshot and explosion at once. He flinched hard, holding his gauntlet up (still didn't know what it did). Then he relaxed. Seeing the girl flinch also, he gave an embarrassed grin in her direction. A sort of bonding over mutual flinching.

As Mauro looked back at Simon - terrible, terrible Simon - he felt a strange feeling come over him. Almost deja vu. Right then, he felt a hate, but also a feeling of nothingness, of despair, then one of fear. Fear of death. Death.

He shuddered, then shook his head. Probably nothing.

 

[Quiet One]

The car shot in reverse up a ramp, coming out into the light of day in the middle of a beautiful Rome morning. They cut off a sporty red coupe with the top down, and Abel pointed down the left lane. "Remember, the streets are reversed here! Go!"

When Marcus drove the car down the street, Abel kept glancing behind them. sure enough, three cars not too different from their old Model T appeared behind them, one a bright red. Simon's, he figured. The hood popped open and rolled under the engine, which promptly rearranged its parts and transformed into a Gatling gun. Definitely Simon's. "Someone with a Pitch rod fire out the back seat. We're about to take fire and we need that cover." He jumped partway over the seat and studied the buttons. He found one that had two vertical lines with three other lines horizontal on the top: a crude drawing of a garage door. "Hit that button and turn your key. Think about somewhere else." He looked at the two in the front seats. "This isn't MY life on the line here!"

 

[Mythy the Dragon-Wolf]

"Somewhere else?" Marcus squeaked as he swerved around yet another car, needing to get back on the other side. He was so confused being suddenly thrust onto streets like this but nevertheless had not crashed them yet. But now, he had to press another button, turn his key.. everything was so complicated now, too much was going on! He gulped, glanced back, and then did as Abel said - thinking of a mountain road in Colorado. He knew his way around it, and it led them to a forest in the mountains where he thought they could more easily hide - and he liked there more than New York anyway.

 

[Crowley]

Silas Mureau
​

At the behest of one of his comrades, Silas had jerked himself into the vehicle and dove headlong towards the backseat. He would've been bewildered at the size of the interior were his thoughts not dominated by more existential ones. Silently he claimed the seat furthest from anyone as he cast his gaze downward at his pocket-watch, tracing his thumb along the button at it's top. Oddly as he stared at the face of the watch, the 'tick-tock' sound it made was like a portal to another universe.

Silas was aware that the vehicle was in motion, the others were little more than a cacophony of discordant noises, it all seemed like a jumble of chaos as he pondered the device in his hands. "I saw him die...but now he's alive. Did I create an alternate timeline...can time be re-winded? Is it linear?" The thoughts burrowed into his mind violently as his eyes became glazed over.

Silas was shaken from his trance and brought back to reality by the sudden change in terrain as their driver elected to move their adventure to a forest. As he awoke from his trance, a single thought nestled itself in the darkest corner of Silas' mind, 'I could be a god.' Glancing around the vehicle at his disheveled and seemingly terrified companions, he solemnly asked the question. "How much time do we have?"​

 

[DangoYumi]

Lavender (Lavenza) Scarlet - Light sword

Lavenza had been keeping her eyes on the vehicles behind them, unable to calm herself down. The adrenaline coursing through her veins made her shiver. It had been a while since she had felt this surge of energy in her, and it didn't feel bad at all. It was an interesting change to her usually calm lifestyle, but for now she wished that they would find a place for them to properly sort things out. It was obvious that they were too inexperienced to fight these Lockpicks, seeing as everyone including her did not get any prior information on this sudden battle. She prayed that they would get out safe, and that the looming gut feeling that she had in her gut would disappear.

Soon they were picking up speed, and all Lavenza could see from behind were dust particles floating in the air. The vehicles behind them slowly disappeared, and she turned back around to face the front. No point staring now, she thought, and she turned her attention to her weapon instead. She held it in her hand again, and remembered the feeling of Simon's cane on it as it sucked out the energy from the blade. The blade's energy seemed to waver when she did, and she wondered why she had picked it in the first place. She had never handled a blade before, neither did she have any interest in it, but when she laid eyes on the blade handle she knew that it was the perfect weapon for her. She sighed and placed her blade down on her lap, turning over to look at the others.

Her eyes wandered around the vehicle, scanning each and every person that was in it. The group seemed to have many different types of people, from the shy Marcus, to the Marco that noticed her flinching, then to Silas that seemed to have a lot on his mind. Her eyes continued until she looked through everyone, and she reached up to run her fingers through her hair. The stress was gnawing at her and she turned back once more to check for the vehicles, only to see them slowly closing in. Hoping what Abel said would work, she reached for her blade and kept it in her hand while praying for the best.

 

[Viral]

Mauro Jakobs

Mauro let his first thought come out of his mouth. "The hell's a pitch rod?" Then the second. "Time until what?" This one directed at Silas. Then he looked back and cursed again at the sight of Simon's vehicle. Today just wasn't Mauro's day. Not at all.

Mauro looked down at his gauntlet. Smooth, silver, almost formfitting, like it was made for him. He flexed his fingers. Yes, that felt right. "I got a gauntlet," he said. "What can I do with this?"

Then his thoughts went to his old life. How long ago? God, probably no less than a couple hours, really. And here he was now. Strangely, he didn't feel concerned for his family, but for Ian. What will the poor boy do without me?, was his first thought. His second was, The same thing I would do without him. Mourn.

Mauro shuddered again. Where had all these thoughts of death come from? This wasn't like him, not at all. His life was just not going down a fun path. Or maybe he just hadn't reached the fun part yet.